Lawnmower For Sale: You Can’t Afford it
Nathan's Priceless Lawnmower
While cutting the grass last night Nathan had HIS lawnmower out. He was sitting on his swing on the swingset, just kind of holding onto the lawn mower. For the last couple years, he would occasionally mimic me as I cut the grass…you know, a boy pretending to do as his Dad does.
Before he said anything, I could tell he had cut his last blade of grass with that mower of his. He’s my little man, but not THAT little. It wouldn’t be cool to be seen walking around with a toy mower. Not anymore.
Most times these gentle shifts and changes in my kids go unnoticed, as they transition from one thing to the next repeatedly and effortlessly, but this little moment tugged at my heart. My buckeroo continues to grow up, darn it!
I kind of choked up relating this story to Lori.
Nathan was not so moved. As I turned my mower off, he said, “Dad, I think I’m gonna sell this (his mower), I could probably get 3 bucks for it.”
I’m thinking the price may be a million times higher.
Missing Person in Ephrata!!!
IT’S ME!!!
See the post below about my doctor visit. I haven’t been to Mickey D’s in 4 weeks!
Another Visit With The Doctor…
And it’s good news!
3 months ago I went in for a routine physical and bloodwork. Cholesterol levels were borderline high so Dr. Calusic prescribed a “statin,” which is I guess the generic term for cholesterol inhibitor.
Cholesterol wal 231 and borderline high. High is 240+. I’m now at 156!!!
Triglycerides was borderline high around 150, it’s 62 now!!!
HDL, the good cholesterol is steady at 43.7, with high risk at ,40 and optimum at >60, so there’s work to do here.
LDL was 140ish and borderline, I’m at 99.9 now! Just inside the “optimal” region.
And I lost another 5 pounds from my last visit! Makes sense. I am very deliberate with excercise, working out 6 out of 7 days, which according to the book Dr. Calusic prescribed, Younger Next Year, is what I must do for the rest of my life! So be it. Lately I’m on the Ephrata track 3x a week. Trying to run that 6:30 mile I had to run 30 years ago for football. Sadly, I can’t break 9 yet! But I will.
Working harder on the nutrition. But it’s been 4 weeks since I’ve been to the Golden Arches. I can’t believe it. Did have a burger at Friendly’s…but no fries! Loving the whole grains, and eating more fruit than i already was, and I love fruit.
I’m feeling healthy. I’m ready to go for another 30 years, at least!
If you are a male 40 or older, or love one that is…check out the book Younger Next Year:
A (yard) Wasted Weekend
Oy! My aching back! I trimmed the low hanging branches of a couple of hemlock trees in my backyard on Saturday and Sunday. Trimming was the easy part. Bagging the sh$! up was the hard part. I filled 24 40 gallon yard waste bags. Good’s Disposal will need to send a fleet just for us.
Saturday afternoon the manual labor was pleasantly put on hold, as Lori and I attended a reunion of her first team from Biggest Loser. No one was counting calories at this bash!
Sunday was more man against yard. Call it a draw. I visited 5 Open Houses in Ephrata, to see what’s for sale in town. Still a buyer’s market my friends…giddy up.
Kate and Nathan played Guitar Hero for approximately 9 hours. Kate only quit to watch the Jonas Brothers marathon on Disney. Lori gleefully escaped the noise to go to work. I napped through some of it, but honestly can’t recall Sunday night cuz my back and bones still ached.
A New Addition To The Family!!!
Kate has been begging for a pet for a long time, and more so since she went to a Petsmart in VA. Friday we went to the Lancaster Petsmart and she got a guinea pig, which she eventually named Nelli.
Shortly after getting Nelli situated, Kate took her out and let Nathan hold her, but not for long! “It feels like she’s pooping on me!”
My Golf Career Is Over!!!
138. I shot 138 yesterday at Iron Valley. Last year at the same course I shot 97.
Over 30 strokes in penalties did me in. But ultimately it was my lack of playing that all but guaranteed a horrible round. It was only my 2nd round of the year. And that round was a 110 at the short and easy Manor Golf Course.
This is so hard to stomach, but it makes sense. I started playing at 13, played in high school, and from the age of 24 to the age of 36 I played a lot of golf, like twice a week from the first thaw in March to the first snowflakes in late November. Once Kate was born, and my career path changed, I no longer had the time or passion for the game.
This is not a game you can expect to play well without repetition. Some years I’ve played less than 5 times. It is hard to do something you once were pretty darn good at. What can you think of that you no longer perform as well?
138. 79 on the front nine! That barely beats my score the first time I ever played 9 holes of real golf, 34 years ago, when I had an 81.
Better stick to team sports and share the misery of ineptitude!
4th of July Getaway: Smith Mountain Lake, VA
Every 4th of July since 1996 Lori & I have spent the 4thof July at her folks place on Smith Mountain Lake in VA, about 40 minutes South of Roanoke and Lynchburg. It is a grueling, unpleasant drive for an hour on the PA turnpike, 4 to 5 hours on Rt.81 and then an hour on local roads twisting and turning to we get there. It’s worth it! The refreshingly cool lake waters are just a short walk down the steps from the lower deck of Dave & Marcia’s house.
The kids were down since the Saturday before the 4th, and Lori and I came down Friday the 3rd. Lots of sunning, reading, floating, splashing, boating, eating, eating and more eating. Marcia makes 3 huge meals every day, with more than just a little help from my brother-in-law David. (Somehow I dragged my butt out to jog 3 miles each day!)
Weather has been great. Only 1 rainy day. We used that day to go to “The Bridge”, home to a ticket arcade, where Kate and Nathan played skeeball and other games to win tickets to trade in for fabulously wonderful prizes that would be overpriced in a Dollar Store.
We spent time inside playing Clue, Monopoly, Shut the Box and Farkel. Ever played Farkel? It’s a simple yet really fun dice game.
Four days is the right amount of time here, as we were just at the shore for a week in mid June. The kids will be back in a month for more Nana & Pops time. Nathan cashed in on his first ever attempt at water skiing. Nana and Uncle Davey each gave him 20 bucks to get him to try it. He is quite the negotiator!
Lori read The Quickie by James Patterson. I finally finished Younger Next Year by Dr. Henry Lodge. The Daves and I spent many hours watching Wimbledon tennis. Crushed by Roddick’s tough loss. No HBO in our house, so I caught Knocked Up one night. Hilarious!
It’ll be tough to depart Tuesday morning, but always good to be home too.
QVC the Place For Me?
I’m blogging from the “cyber cafe” inside the QVC campus in West Chester, PA.
A few months ago, my high school pal Trina asked if I’d be interested in helping her husband, Jeff, sell their coiled garden hose product on QVC. Brother Weems and coiled garden hose, a match made in heaven, right?
Since they live in Oregon and it’s a plane ride and atleast a one night stay overnight to do a 5 minute show here, why not send someone else, namely me, who lives an hour away.
So after weeks of intensive training in hose technology and QVC sales philosophy, I’m here awaiting “showtime”, at about 4:30 today. Hopefully it’s just the first of many successful visits!
(Don’t expect me to be Billy Mays, RIP, it’s not that kind of presentation. Nor will I be ShamWeems, like the ShamWow guy. The host runs the show, I’m to be like a guest in their house)
…several hours later…
Sure was bright outside…they could’ve told me we’d be out in bright sunlight!
Happy Father’s Day!
Father’s Day was low-key and pleasant. We were still missing the shore, and not up for much. The cards from Lori, Kate and Nathan were great. See the kids cards below.
Nathan and I took out the R/C plane he bought the night before at Target. The fields at Charity Gardens are convenient for such fun, but the winds were too strong to really make it work.
I took the kids into Lancaster for the open house of the new Marriott and Convention Center. Very cool! The views from the rooms are wonderful. The Rendezvous Lounge is unlike anything else in town. The name taken from the legendary basement restaurant at Watt & Shand. I hope it’s a big success!!
Before heading for home we stopped in at the newly relocated Fractured Prune on the corner of Queen and Walnut. Fresh hot doughnuts with the toppings of your choice. Oh man, it’s probably good I don’t work downtown anymore, I’d be hitting this place way too often!
Who’s Your Daddy?
This is a letter I wrote 4 years ago in one of my monthly letters/newsletters to clients family and friends as Father’s Day was approaching. It was called, “Who’s Your Daddy?”
I hope you had a chance to thumb through my new newlsetter recently. What was your favorite “Dad-ism?” Many a road trip anywhere resulted in a threat of, “Do you want me to pull over?” (Heck no Dad! Hurry up and get us to Woolworth’s so I can spend my 15 cents allowance!) I also remember how my Dad loved to sing while awaiting dinner to be served…”Mares eat oats and does eat oats and kids’ll eat ivy too…” I’d like to hear that one on American Idol!
I’ve had a lot of time to think about my Father. Last month marked 30 years since the single worst day of my life, the day my Dad died. Heart attack. He was 56. It’s a good thing God gave us an infinite supply of tears, because otherwise I’d surely have exhausted my lifetime supply by the age of 13.
Al Williams was a “shop” teacher, I think it’s “tech ed” now. He was the Driver’s Ed instructor and tennis coach too. I’m darn glad that he and my Mom didn’t quit at 7 kids, or else I wouldn’t be here.
My Dad took me to the town library quite often, even though I only ever checked out Harold and The Purple Crayon or Curious George Goes To The Hospital. He found a station on the radio for me that broadcast every single NY Knicks basketball game! He took me to see the Harlem Globetrotters one year, that may be my all-time favorite Christmas gift. I forgot to bring the coupon I clipped off the Alpha Bits box good for a free game of bowling, but Dad still let me bowl an extra game anyway. He taught me 5 card draw poker, and it was okay if 2’s, 4’s, 7’s and one-eyed Jacks were wild. There was never a summer supper that wasn’t followed by a game of 21 on the backyard hoop, or a round of mini-golf on my makeshift 18 hole course carved out in our tree-cluttered half acre of crabgrass and dandelions.
He was not Super Dad. He wasn’t Ward Cleaver or Mike Brady. He was just MY Dad. I miss him now, like I missed him then, like I always will. I tried to praise my Mom once for her positive, easy-going attitude. She laughed and said, “That was your Father.” That was my Father.
The passing of my Dad has shaped my life more than anything else. I learned a long time ago what it takes many a lifetime to figure out. Each day you have on Earth is a brightly wrapped gift with a bow and your name on it. Tear it open with the unbridled joy of a child on Christmas morning. Be forever grateful for every such gift, for one day…there won’t be one with your name on it.
Sincerely,
Brian